Pages

Monday, May 21, 2012

Smothered Pork Chops

There's a first time for everything, and this Southern dish is very new to a California Native.
It's not often that I make gravies-- except for one of my husband's favorite recipes, "Chicken Fried Steak", or Rib-Eye Steak with Onion Blue Cheese Sauce. Most times, I make quick pan sauces, with some kind of booze and either chicken or beef stock. Good times.

Every so often, I get a "hankering" for a pork chop, bone-in. $6.00 a chop might seem pricey to most people, and I understand that (and I'm thankful that Craig and I both have jobs to indulge a bit). We enjoy eating meats once or twice a week, but I've made a decision that I'm going to buy the best quality that I can. I don't want hormone-laden meat, that's been subjected to all kinds of shots and cheap feed. If it means that I shop for meat less often-- so be it! I am thankful to have a Whole Foods in my own backyard, so I stop here once a week, and buy whatever seafood, fish, poultry or red meat looks good.

Nice chops! I bought them, without any idea what I would make with them. (The reason I prefer bone-in, (just like I do with poultry) is that the meat cooks up moister. I read, somewhere, that the bone helps to distribute the heat more evenly. Sounds logical to me.) Somewhere, in that recipe data base in my head, I remembered seeing a recipe for Smothered Pork Chops from Food Network Magazine. I had all the ingredients I needed on hand, so on a week night, I got busy in the kitchen:

I've been making my own spice mixes for a while, now. I save empty spice jars, mix up a batch of Italian, Mexican and Cajun seasoning and it saves money.

I patted the chops dry, then seasoned them with salt and Cajun seasoning, then dredged them in flour and tapped off the excess. I reserved the rest of the flour for making gravy.

My most preferred way to prepare meat and poultry is to sear it on one side, for a few minutes, then pop the entire skillet into a 425F oven. I then roasted the chops for about 15 minutes, or until an instant read thermometer read 145F. I removed the chops to a plate, loosely covered them with foil and got busy with making the gravy.

While the chops were pan roasting, I cut some garden fresh thyme (in full bloom) and sliced one large onion, a large clove of garlic.

To the skillet, I melted one tablespoon of unsalted butter, the onion, some salt and the thyme and cooked them until almost golden brown...

...then I added the garlic (I watch the garlic closely, so I don't burn it). Once the onions were cooked to golden brown (about 8-10 minutes), I added a couple tablespoons of the reserved flour and cooked it for about one minute.

About 1-1/2 cups chicken broth is added, and about a generous tablespoon of Dijon Mustard (for extra flavor)

Now, for the buttermilk-- about 2/3 cup. Bubble, bubble...bring to a boil and reduce by about one-third.

This is, for sure, a man-pleasing meal. It's a wife-pleasing meal, in that it was pretty effortless to make.

Mashed potatoes would be a perfect side dish...

This time, I baked a couple of Yams, with a pat of butter and a drizzle of pure maple syrup.

TASTING NOTES: How can anyone fault an onion gravy? Creamy, with a nice tang from the buttermilk. I'm glad that I added a little Dijon to the recipe, for a little extra depth of flavor. The thyme was perfect. The pork was juicy, and we had leftover gravy since I only cooked two chops, instead of four. Yes, I'd make this again-- and it's easy enough to make after a long day at the office.

A printable recipe card is at the end of this post. If you'd like to make your own cajun spice mix, it's included on the recipe card. If you can't view the recipe card, click here to see it.

Welcome!

Welcome to my internet kitchen. Please, sit back and relax, and watch me make delicious food and bakery recipes. Most of my recipes are simple, flavorful meals-- and a few baked treats. I focus on using fresh, seasonal ingredients and I try to avoid using boxed mixes and processed foods. I'm having fun learning how to cook like my grandmother once did-- from scratch! I hope that my step-by-step photos will inspire a timid cook to try them. Even if you're a seasoned cook, hopefully you'll learn a new tip or two.

If you have any questions,or just want to say "hello", please feel free to email me: foodiewife@gmail.com

Join Me On Facebook

Please respect my photo's copyrights!

Please be courteous. Don't steal my content!

Unfortunately, I am finding that my photos are being copied and used on other blogs. This makes my otherwise cheerful personality, very unhappy.If you'd like to use one of my photographs, all you have to do is email me at foodiewife@gmail.com. Please, do not use my photographs to represent a recipe that isn't mine, and without linking it back to me. Failure to use my work without my permission is copyright infringement. Thank you!

Looking for a specific recipe? Start here:

Loading...

Subscribe via Email

Enter your email address:

Please start your Amazon shopping here. I receive a small commission, at no extra cost to you!

Mardis Gras King Cake (with a Cream Cheese filling)

Super Bowl Noms

Grab A Button

Do you "Pinterest"?

Privacy Policy

This policy is valid from 30 August 2014

This blog is a personal blog written and edited by me. This blog accepts forms of cash advertising, sponsorship, paid insertions or other forms of compensation.

The compensation received will never influence the content, topics or posts made in this blog. All advertising is in the form of advertisements generated by a third party ad network. Those advertisements will be identified as paid advertisements.

The owner(s) of this blog is compensated to provide opinion on products, services, websites and various other topics. Even though the owner(s) of this blog receives compensation for our posts or advertisements, we always give our honest opinions, findings, beliefs, or experiences on those topics or products. The views and opinions expressed on this blog are purely the bloggers' own. Any product claim, statistic, quote or other representation about a product or service should be verified with the manufacturer, provider or party in question.

This blog does not contain any content which might present a conflict of interest.